Dimitri Ashkenazy

Technopolis 20 welcomes the world-known clarinettist Dimitri Ashkenazy that after performing in concerts in Ukraine, Georgia and USA, he will also perform in Paphos, and he will continue in Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore. Enjoy the distinguished clarinettist for only two events in Cyprus, on the 4th and 6th of October 2018, at Technopolis 20 in Paphos.

On Thursday, 4th of October, at 7pm join us at Technopolis 20 garden (weather permitting), have a glass of wine and enjoy a beautiful informal meeting with the Dimitri Ashkenazy. A ‘chat-interview’ will take place with the famous musician in order to get to know him as person and as an artist. It will be interesting to discuss with him his view of music and his experience with many internationally known musicians and orchestras. The discussion will be ‘interrupted’ by a few clarinet solo interpretations of Dimitri, where one can realize that clarinet solo can be a very fascinating instrument.

The following Saturday, 6th of October, at 7pm, a concert will take place, where Dimitri Ashkenazy will perform with four soloists of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, the first concertmaster Wolfgang Schröder and the first violin Sorin Alexandru Horlea on violins, the sub-principal of viola section Vladimir Tkachenko and the principal cellist of Cyprus Symphony Orchestra Jakub Otčenášek.

The programme will include the String Quartet in G Minor by Claude Debussy and the Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op.115 by Johannes Brahms.

Entrance: 4 October, €10 (including a glass of wine) | 6 October, €15 | Both dates: €20
Reservations are necessary at 70002420.

A few words about the musicians
Dimitri Ashkenazy (clarinet): Born as the second son of Vladimir and Dodi Ashkenazy in 1969 in New York, Dimitri Ashkenazy began playing the piano at the age of six and then switched to the clarinet under the tuition of Giambattista Sisini, with whom he continued studying when he entered the Conservatory of Lucerne in 1989. Since completing his studies, he has gone on to perform widely, both as soloist and chamber musician. On tour, he has appeared at the Royal Festival Hall in London, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl, with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin at the Sydney Opera House, with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and in Japan with the Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony and Mito Chamber Orchestras. In addition to the major concertos for the clarinet, his repertoire extends to include contemporary works such as Peter Maxwell Davies' Strathclyde Concerto No.4, which he has performed with the composer himself conducting in Spain, Germany, Hungary and the U.K., and Krzysztof Penderecki's own transcription of his Viola Concerto with the composer himself conducting both in Poland and on tour in Spain. He also gave the world premiere performances of concertos by Marco Tutino (with the Filarmonici della Scala, Milan) and Filippo del Corno (with the orchestra ‘I Pomeriggi Musicali’), and of Peter Maxwell Davies' Clarinet Quintet ‘Hymn to Artemis Locheia’ (with the Brodsky Quartet at the Lucerne Festival). An active chamber musician, he has performed with the Kodály, Heath, Endellion, Auryn and Faust Quartets and with partners such as Barbara Bonney, Helmut Deutsch, David Golub, Edita Gruberova, Ariane Haering, Antonio Meneses, Cristina Ortiz, Maria João Pires, Aleksandar Madzar, and of course his brother Vovka and his father Vladimir Ashkenazy. In addition to his concert activity, Dimitri Ashkenazy has made numerous CD (paladino, Pan Classics, Decca, Ondine, VDE Gallo, DUX), radio (Radio Nacional de España, France Musiques, Radio della Svizzera Italiana, DeutschlandRadio) and television recordings, and been invited to give master classes in Australia, Iceland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and the U.S.

Wolfgang Schröder (violin): Born into a South German family, Wolfgang Schröders earliest studies began with his parents. At a young age Ana Chumachenko became his teacher and played a decisive role in his development as a violinist. At the early age of 17, he won the first prize at the German state competition Jugend musiziert (Youth makes music) and subsequently a scholarship at the International Menuhin Music Academy (IMMA). He has performed together with Yehudi Menuhin and Alberto Lysy, both as soloist and chamber musician in numerous European countries (Barbican Center, London), South America (Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires), and many other. After graduating from IMMA, he continued his studies at the Mozarteum University of Music in Salzburg under Prof. Sandor Vegh, and thereafter at the Mannes School of Music in New York under Prof. Aaron Rosand. Wolfgang Schröder’s solo career has included performances with the Bavarian Chamber Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Symphony Orchestra, Talich Chamber Orchestra, Polish Chamber Philharmonic, Kammerorchester Basel, Rubinstein Phil harmony Lodz, Salzburg Chamber Philharmonic, Camerata Salzburg, Nuremberg Symphony, Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Israel Soloists Ensemble, Athens State Orchestra, Thessaloniki State Orchestra, Thai Philharmonic Orchestra etc. He was also the artistic director of the European Community Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) from 1993-1995 and has performed a number of highly acclaimed concert tours worldwide. He has worked with conductors like Vladimir Ashkenazy, Andrey Boreyko, Daniel Raiskin, to name just a few. As an active chamber musician, in 1992 he founded the Belcanto String Trio and from 1996 to 2005 has regularly performed as violinist of the Trio Parnassus. In September 2001 the Trio Parnassus received the prestigious Echo Classic Award for their complete recording of the Schumann piano trios. As soloist and chamber player Wolfgang Schröder performs in musical centers such as the “Philharmonie” in Berlin, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Vienna “Konzerthaus”, at the “Great Performers Series” at Lincoln Center New York, at the “Frick Collection” Museum New York, at the “Masters Series” in London's Wigmore Hall, at the London Barbican Hall, the Megaron Musikis of Athens and at “Teatro Colon” in Buenos Aires. Wolfgang Schröder’s chamber music partners include artists like among others Wenzel Fuchs, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Benjamin Schmid, Alex Karr, Cyprien Katsaris, Julian Rachlin, Janine Jansen, Daniel Raiskin, Ramon Jaffe, Andreas Frölich, Elisaveta Blumina, Levon Chilingirian Zvi Carmeli, Alex Hülshoff and Gustav Rivinius and Sennu Laine. He also has been regularly invited to major chamber music festivals such as the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland, the Open Chamber Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove (England), the Hopfgarten Festival (Austria), the Moritzburg Festival (Germany), the West Cork Festival (Ireland), the Umea and Bostad Festivals (Sweden), the International Music Festival Middelburg (Holland), the Euriade Festival in Aachen (Germany), the International Festival of Echternach (Luxemburg) and the Ojika Festival (Japan). Since 1998 he has been artistic director of the Camerata Stuttgart. Appearances with the Camerata Stuttgart include performances in prestigious concert halls like the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, the Megaron Music Hall of Athens, Liederhalle of Stuttgart and the Dortmund Opera House. Wolfgang Schröder has made recordings for MDG, Divox, Ars Production, Thorofon, Symicon and CPO labels. A CD with the complete Sonatas for Violin by Eugene Ysaye appeared on Hook Records in 2017. Since 2005 he is 1st Concertmaster of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra.
„...the outstanding young violinist Wolfgang Schröder...”
The Strad
“...wonderfully elevated quality of Wolfgang Schröder’s violin...”
The Strad

Sorin Alexandru Horlea (violin): He was born in Bucharest in 1975 and started the violin at the age of eight. He graduated from George Enescu Music High-School where he studied under maestro Octav Savitchi and Ciprian Porumbescu Music University where his Professor was maestro Daniel Podlovschi. He took part in summer-courses with Viktor Pikaizen and Eugen Sarbu. In 1997 he won the third prize at the George Enescu Childhood Memories contest in Bucharest. During his university studies he played in the Radio Chamber Orchestra, Philarmonia Chamber Orchestra and in Bucharest Opera, but mainly in George Enescu Philharmonic. In 2000 he moved to Lebanon to fulfil his position in Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra, where he became the assistant concert master. He moved to Cyprus in 2005 and since then is a member of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra. He is also working as an associate teacher of the Cyprus Youth Orchestra. Alongside his output as an orchestral musician, he is an active performer as a soloist and in various chamber groups throughout Europe and Middle East, playing not only classical but also jazz and folk music. He was a member of Cyprus String Quartet, and the folk band Danube Quartet. He regularly performs contemporary music as he is a resident musician at the Avaton Festival in Limassol, a member of the Chronos Ensemble, and of the Ensemble Cyclamen. Sorin is playing on a modern violin by Stephan Sultanian. www.youtube.com/sorinestera

Vladimir Tkachenko (viola): He was born in 1973 in Russia, Volgograd city. At the age of 5 he started violin at the local music school. In 1988 entered musical college and switched the instrument to viola. In 1992 entered the Volgograd High Music Academy and graduated from the Academy in 1997 and joined Volgograd Symphony Orchestra. In the same year he worked as an associate principal viola in Musical Theatre. Between 2000 -2003 Vladimir was working in Cairo Symphony Orchestra in Egypt (1st-2nd desk) and from 2003 he was the viola leader. From 2005 he is the sub-principal of viola section of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra and from 2007 he is member of the Cyprus String Quartet. From 2010 he teaches viola within the Music Workshop of and trainer of Cyprus Youth Orchestra. He has played numerous solo concerts and as a member of various chamber ensembles.

Jakub Otčenášek (cello): he was born into a family of no musical tradition. Out of curiosity at the age of 14 he started to play piano and one year later, at 15, he took first classes of playing the cello. At the age of 16 he became a member of "Europera Jugendorchester" where he was allowed to work with the conductor Miloš Krejčí. Only one year later he started his studies at the Prague Conservatory in the class of Renata Strašrybková. At that time he won several prizes at national competitions and took part at international competitions as well. In years 2010-2012 he was principal cellist of Prague Conservatory Orchestra (2011 this orchestra played the opening concert of international music festival ‘’Prague Spring’ with Jiří Bělohlávek as a conductor). 2012 he graduated with Schumann Cello Concerto accompanied by the abovementioned orchestra. Since the academic year 2012/13 he is studying at the ‘Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversität’ with Prof. Lilia Schulz-Bayrova. Within the last accomplishments he is allowed to count a special price of ‘Enami-Stiftung’ at the chamber music competition ‘Fidelio-Wettbewerb 2014’ in Wien. Since November 2016 he is the principal cellist of Cyprus Symphony Orchestra. Jakub Otčenášek took part at masterclasses with well-known artists such as Michaela Fukačová, Michal Kaňka, Bruno Weinmeister and Natalia Gutman. He has given concerts through Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria) and has made several recordings for the Czech Radio (works for cello and piano by Czech composer Jarmila Mazourová with her playing the piano part) and Czech National Television (works for cello and piano by Antonín Dvořák).

A few words about the works to be performed
String Quartet in G Minor by Claude Debussy (August 22, 1862, Saint Germain-en-Laye - March 25, 1918, Paris)
‘Early in 1893, Debussy met the famed Belgian violinist Eugene Ysaÿe. Debussy was at this time almost unknown (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun was still a year in the future), but he and Ysaÿe instantly became friends–though Ysaÿe was only four years older than Debussy, he treated the diminutive Frenchman like “his little brother.” That summer, Debussy composed a string quartet for Ysaÿe’s quartet, which gave the first performance in Paris on December 29, 1893. Debussy was already notorious with his teachers for his refusal to follow musical custom, and so it comes as a surprise to find him choosing to write in this most demanding of classical forms. Early audiences were baffled. Reviewers used words like “fantastic” and “oriental,” and Debussy’s friend Ernest Chausson confessed mystification. Debussy must have felt the sting of these reactions, for he promised Chausson: “Well, I’ll write another for you . . . and I’ll try to bring more dignity to the form.”
But Debussy did not write another string quartet, and his Quartet in G Minor has become one of the cornerstones of the quartet literature. The entire quartet grows directly out of its first theme, presented at the very opening, and this sharply rhythmic figure reappears in various shapes in all four movements, taking on a different character, a different color, and a different harmony on each reappearance. What struck early audiences as “fantastic” now seems an utterly original conception of what a string quartet might be. Here is a combination of energy, drama, thematic imagination, and attention to color never heard before in a string quartet. Debussy may have felt pushed to apologize for a lack of “dignity” in this music, but we value it today just for that failure.
Those who think of Debussy as the composer of misty impressionism are in for a shock with his quartet, for it has the most slashing, powerful opening Debussy ever wrote: his marking for the beginning is “Animated and very resolute.” This first theme, with its characteristic triplet spring, is the backbone of the entire quartet: the singing second theme grows directly out of this opening (though the third introduces new material). The development is marked by powerful accents, long crescendos, and shimmering colors as this movement drives to an unrelenting close in G minor.
The Scherzo may well be the quartet’s most impressive movement. Against powerful pizzicato chords, Debussy sets the viola’s bowed theme, a transformation of the quartet’s opening figure; soon this is leaping between all four voices. The recapitulation of this movement, in 15/8 and played entirely pizzicato, bristles with rhythmic energy, and the music then fades away to a beautifully understated close. Debussy marks the third movement “Gently expressive,” and this quiet music is so effective that it is sometimes used as an encore piece. It is in ABA form: the opening section is muted, while the more animated middle is played without mutes–the quartet’s opening theme reappears subtly in this middle section. Debussy marks the ending, again played with mutes, “As quiet as possible.”
The finale begins slowly but gradually accelerates to the main tempo, “Very lively and with passion.” As this music proceeds, the quartet’s opening theme begins to reappear in a variety of forms: first in a misty, distant statement marked “soft and expressive,” then gradually louder and louder until it returns in all its fiery energy, stamped out in double-stops by the entire quartet. A propulsive coda drives to the close, where the first violin flashes upward across three octaves to strike the powerful G major chord that concludes this most undignified–and most wonderful–piece of music.’
by Eric Bromberger

Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op.115 by Johannes Brahms (1891)
Allegro
Adagio
Andantino - Presto non assai, ma con sentimento Con moto
‘By March 1891 Brahms' creative impetus appeared to have faded away. He had composed nothing for more than a year and had completed his will. But then, visiting Meiningen, the conductor of the court orchestra drew Brahms' attention to the playing of their erstwhile violinist, now principal clarinettist, Richard Mühlfeld (1856-1907), who performed privately for Brahms. As Anton Stadler had previously inspired Mozart, so now Mühlfeld inspired Brahms. There rapidly followed four wonderful chamber pieces: a Trio for piano, clarinet and cello Op 114, today's Quintet Op 115, and two clarinet and piano Sonatas Op 120.
In the hundred years since Mozart wrote his clarinet quintet, the instrument had evolved into something akin to the modern “Boehm” clarinet. Its larger number of keys, and consequently simpler fingering, made rapid chromatic playing easier than was possible on the much simpler clarinets used, albeit to great effect, by Stadler.
The opening B minor theme on the two violins provides much of the basic material for the work. The clarinet then enters with a rising arpeggio just as in Mozart’s quintet, and leads us to a contrasting staccato motif with rapid accompanying triplets that are tossed between the instruments. The Adagio in B major has a slow melody in the clarinet accompanied by a Brahms trademark complex rhythm superimposing triplets with syncopated duplets in the strings.
The two illustrated themes are then combined in the turbulent B minor central section of the movement with gymnastic flourishes from the clarinet. The third movement opens with a calm Andantino leading to the Presto scherzo and a contrasting Trio section with pizzicato strings. The last movement is a theme and five variations, with the theme related to many of those in the previous movements. The cello leads the first variation, the first violin and clarinet the second, the more embellished third and the fourth, which moves into B major. The viola then returns us to B minor with a restatement of the theme but in the rhythm of the first movement. In the final coda the first violin returns to the very opening of the first movement, the clarinet adds a major version of the viola's restatement and the work ends in peaceful agreement.’
by Chris Darwin